Non-slip structure

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a non-slip structure, which is highly efficient in preventing a slip with no trouble caused by a through hole, thereby enhancing reliability. 
     The non-slip structure of this invention is characterized in that a portion of a metal plate such as a steel plate and the like is sheared so as to form cutting lines (a pair of lateral side cutting lines and a joining cutting line) for forming a protruded piece and, at the same time, the protruded piece is pulled up along the cutting lines to a height, which does not exceed the thickness portion of the steel plate so as to raise the shearing surface (edge), so that the sheared surface does not form a gap nor any through hole in contacting the steel plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a non-slip structure that provides ametal plate with a non-slip protruded piece, which is highly effectivein preventing a slip without any trouble caused by a through hole,thereby enhancing reliability.

2. Description of the Related Art

As non-slip structures of a metal plate which constitute floors, aisles,stairs, or decorative laminated sheets and the like of buildingstructures, or floors and steps of buses, trucks, special vehicles andthe like and, furthermore, top sides and decks of railway rollingstocks, marine vessels and the like in addition to temporary sole platesand the like of civil works and the like, heretofore, the technologiessuch as enumerated below have been known.

(1) A banded steel plate 11 is known, which has a non-slip bandedpattern rounded and formed when a steel plate is flat-rolled (see FIG.4(A)).

Since the height of the banded pattern 13, formed when the steel plateis flat-rolled, is low and also has a curved shape, a non-slip effectcan be expected as long as it is used for a relatively good workingcondition. Even in such a case, not much non-slip effect can be expected(see FIGS. 4 (B) and 4(C)).

(2) A non-slip structure is known, which is laminated with a non-slipsheet comprising a sandpaper because the upper cover of constructionequipment is taken as a tread.

However, this non-slip sheet is not expected to bring out satisfactoryeffect since the grain is crushed promptly, depending on its use.

(3) Hence, in order to eliminate these troubles, a structure is known,in which a through hole 22 having a round shape or star-like shape isfirst formed by punching in a steel plate 21 and, then, a large numberof patterns 23 that are made by pulling up the peripheral hem of thethrough hole 22 by a press and the like are arranged (see FIG. 5).

In this non-slip steel plate 21, since the height of the pulled upportion of the pattern 23 can be sufficiently secured, which alsobecomes a sharply chopped off surface 27 by punching, much strongernon-slip effect can be expected.

Consequently, this non-slip steel plate 21 is used particularly atelevated working floors, and locations in which the non-slip effect isspoiled due to rainwater and slurries, and the like.

However, since the above-described non-slip steel plate is cut with thethrough hole, depending on its application, it is inevitable that therearise problems such as rainwater and slurries falling down below thetread, or fiery winds and a diffusion of noises inversely rolling upfrom below to the tread or the like.

Hence, this non-slip steel plate is integrally welded on a separatefloor surface made of a flat steel plate or firmly fixed to it bybolting as necessary.

Since bolting makes it possible to separate the non-slip steel plate andthe flat steel plate, which becomes the floor surface, it is possible toprevent a rusty fluid from arising out of rainwater accumulated betweenthe non-slip steel plate and the flat steel plate or to clean up dustsaccumulated in each non-slip pattern.

Nevertheless, in either case, since the floor structure is twofold, itleads to a rise in the manufacturing cost because of the twofoldstructure.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-describedcircumstances, and the main object of the invention is to provide ahighly reliable non-slip structure, which is highly effective inpreventing a slip without any trouble caused by the through hole.

A further object of the invention is to provide a non-slip structure,which is good in draining.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In the present invention, a cutting line to form a protruded piece isformed by shearing a portion of the metal plate and, at the same time,the protruded piece is pulled up to a height, which does not exceed thethickness of the metal plate, along the cutting line, and a shearedsurface is raised along the cutting line. Since the above-describedsheared surface comprises a shape which does not form the through holein the metal plate, a non-slip effect can be realized by an edge risinghigh vertically, and it can be improved, compared to a conventionalstructure, which is low in height and rounded.

The above-described protruded piece comprises a pair of lateral sidecutting lines formed at both lateral sides, and a joining cutting line,which joins between top end portions of the pair of lateral cuttinglines by a straight line or a curved line. The protruded piece may havea shape, which is gradually pulled up higher from the base ends of thelateral cutting lines so that the joining cutting line become thehighest in height.

Also, with a center as a horizontal surface, a plurality of protrudedpieces are formed almost radially in the direction of the center aroundthe periphery, and a pulled up edge portion of each protruded piece maybe arranged in the direction of the center.

Further, when a draining path portion, which is connected to thehorizontal surface of the center and is set up in the same surface, isformed between the above-described protruded pieces, an operability ofcleaning works can be enhanced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a non-slipstructure of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plane view of the non-slip structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the non-slip structure shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a conventional banded steel plate, and FIG. 4(A) is a planeview thereof, FIG. 4(B) is a sectional view of a protruded piece, andFIG. 4(C) is a longitudinal sectional view thereof;

FIG. 5 show the non-slip structure having a conventional through hole,FIG. 5(A) being a sectional view of the protruded piece, and FIG. 5(B),a plane view thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A preferred embodiment of a non-slip structure of the present inventionapplied to a cover plate made of steel plate which covers various units,parts and portions of frame bodies and the like of constructionequipment will be described below with reference to the drawings.

This non-slip structure 1, as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, is formed on asteel plate 2 used as a cover plate of the construction equipment, and aportion of the steel plate 2 is sheared so as to form cutting lines forforming a protruded piece and, at the same time, the protruded piece ispulled up to a height (h≦t), which does not exceed a thickness (t) ofthe steel plate 2.

In this way, the sheared surface is raised along the cutting lines and,at the same time, the above-described sheared surface contacts thesurrounding steel plate 2 at least at a part thereof and, therefore,even when a protruded piece 3 is formed, a through hole will never beformed on the steel plate 2.

That is, this protruded piece 3 has a pair of lateral side surfaces orcutting lines 3 a formed at both lateral sides of the protruded piece 3,and an end surface or joining cutting line 3 b which joins between thetop ends of the pair of lateral cutting lines 3 a, and has a shape whichis gradually pulled up and elevated from the base end sides of thelateral cutting lines 3 b so that the joining cutting line 3 b becomesthe highest in height.

The peripheral hem end surface (sheared surface) of the elevatedprotruded piece 3 becomes an edge 7, and the edge 7 along the joiningcutting line 3 b becomes the highest in height.

As described above, the portion which is divided by the lateral cuttinglines 3 a and joining cutting line 3 b is pulled up, and becomes theprotruded piece 3, which is almost fan-shaped as seen from its top viewin the case of the illustrated example, and has a form which is curvedspherically in its upper surface. Further, though the sheared surfacealong the cutting lines 3 a and 3 b becomes the edge 7, since it is notpulled up higher than the thickness of the steel plate 2, the lower endof the edge 7 is connected and overlapped (see FIG. 3) or brought intocontact with the thickness portion of the steel plate 2 and, therefore,no gap nor any through hole is produced between the steel plate 2 andthe lower end of the edge 7.

Although the protruded piece 3 may be arranged interspersedly, in thepresent embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of the protrudedpieces at equal intervals with a center portion as the center (fourpieces at intervals of 90 degree in the case of the illustrated example)are arranged radially so as to form one piece of a non-slip pattern 4.

The non-slip pattern 4 is arranged in plurality by an adequateconfiguration on a steel plate 3, which becomes a floor surface or atread (see FIG. 2).

This non-slip pattern 4 comprises a plurality of protruded pieces 3,which are arranged in the radial pattern with an any one point as thecenter; a center portion 5, which is arranged in the center among theseprotruded pieces 3 and comprises an almost horizontal surface of thesame level as a reference surface of the steel plate 2; and a drainingpath portion 6, which junctions this center portion 5 and comprises thealmost horizontal surface which extends to cross between the adjacentprotruded pieces 3.

Note that the joining cutting line 3 b of each protruded piece 3provided in the non-slip pattern 4 becomes a circular-arc curbed lineoverlapping with a concentric circle of the center portion 5.

Here, the above-described center portion 5 and the draining path portion6 are areas left without being subjected to any process when the steelplate 2 is processed to form the protruded piece 3. In the case of theillustrated example, the center portion 5 is formed almost in a circularshape, and the draining path portion 6 is like a belt having uniform thesame width and is formed so as to intersect the above-described centerportion 5 at right angles in a radial direction.

The shape and the number of protruded pieces 3 and draining pathportions 6 are not limited to the illustrated example, but can be set toan adequate shape and the number according to the application.

Since the non-slip pattern 4 is constituted as described above, theperipheral hem of the protruded piece 3 has the edge 7 almost verticallyraised with the above-described joining cutting line as the highestposition, and its shape is arranged in a flat circular arc along theouter periphery of the center portion 5 at equal intervals (at intervalsof 90 degree in the case of the illustrated example) and, therefore, anon-slip effect can be enhanced.

Also, since the through hole is not formed, and the edge 7 of theprotruded piece contacts at least the thickness portion of the steelplate 2, no fluids such as water and slurry or ambience such as heat andnoises are allowed to move freely from the upper side to the undersideor inversely from the underside to the upper side.

Moreover, even when the water is accumulated in the center portion 5which is surrounded by the protruded pieces, it is discharged throughthe radially shaped draining path portions 6, and can be cleaned upconveniently.

In the above-described embodiment, though a steel plate is cited as anexample, other metal plates may be used in this invention.

Also, the shape of the protruded piece and the non-slip pattern is notlimited to the above-described embodiment, but may be adequately changedin design depending on the application.

Furthermore, this non-slip structure is not limited to the cover plateof the construction equipment similarly to the above-describedembodiment, but may be used for various types of the floor surfaces, thetreads and the like, to be brief, the treads on which the user steps,and can be, applied to all sorts of the applications similarly to thebanded steel plate.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

Since the non-slip structure as described above performs a non-slipeffect by means of the edge rising high vertically, it can be improved,compared to the conventional structure, which is low in height androunded.

Also, since there is no need to open a through hole, the trouble causedby the flow of a fluid or ambience is controlled, so that there is nolimit imposed on the application. Also, there is no need to make adouble structure, which superposes the structure on the flat steel plateand the like similarly to the conventional ways.

Also, since the forming of the protruded piece can simultaneously formthe center portion and the draining path portion connected thereto, theoperability of the cleaning can be enhanced.

1. A non-slip structure comprising a metal plate lying in a plane andhaving at least one raised unit, each unit comprising at least twoprotruding partially spherical portions having the same configurationarranged radially with respect to each other to provide a center sectionsurrounded by said at least two protruding portions, each of saidportions being formed by shearing said plate and each portion having twolateral side surfaces and an end surface facing said center section, thebottom edges of said lateral side and end surfaces being connected tosaid metal plate, whereby no gap or any through hole is produced betweensaid metal plate and said bottom edges of said surfaces, said twolateral side surfaces curving upwardly from the plane of said metalplate and tapering toward each other in the direction of said endsurface, said end surface extending between said lateral side surfacesat the highest point of said protruding portion so that each portion hasa general fan shape as viewed from the top, each of said portionsextending above said metal plate by a height which is less than thethickness of said plate to eliminate a passage through said plate, thelateral side surfaces of adjacent units forming an open drainage path ofuniform width extending from said center section.
 2. The non-slipstructure according to claim 1 in which the center section is ahorizontal surface; and each protruded portion is radially spaced fromthe next protruded portion in the direction of the center.
 3. Thenon-slip structure according to claim 2, in which the space between saidprotruded portions is in the same plane as said center section and formsa draining path portion connected to the center section.
 4. The non-slipstructure according to claim 3, comprising a plurality of units, acenter portion between said plurality of units having a surface lying inthe plane of said metal plate, said drainage path lying in the plane ofsaid metal plate connected to said center portion and extending betweenadjacent protruded portions of said plurality of units.
 5. The non-slipstructure according to claim 4, wherein four of the protruded portionsare arranged at intervals of 90 degrees with the center section as thecenter.
 6. A non-slip structure, wherein said plurality of unitsaccording to claim 4 are formed on a front surface of said metal plate,said metal plate being adapted to cover the frame bodies of constructionequipment.
 7. A non-slip structure comprising a metal plate having a topsurface and at least one raised unit extending above said top surface,each unit comprising at least two protruding partially sphericalportions having the same configuration and arranged circularly withrespect to each other to define a central open space therebetween onsaid top surface of said plate which is surrounded by said at least twoprotruding portions, each of said portions being formed by shearing saidplate and each portion having two lateral side surfaces and an exposedend surface facing said center section, the bottom edges of said lateralside and end surfaces being connected to said metal plate, whereby nogap or any through hole is produced between said metal plate and saidbottom edges of said surfaces, said two lateral side surfaces curvingupwardly from the top surface of said metal plate and tapering towardeach other in the direction of said exposed end surface, said exposedend surface extending between said lateral side surfaces at the highestpoint of said protruding portion so that each portion has a generalshape of a segment of a sphere as viewed from the top, each of saidportions extending above said metal plate by a height which is less thanthe thickness of said plate, the lateral side surfaces of adjacent unitslying in the same circle forming an open drainage path of uniform widthextending from said central open space.
 8. The non-slip structureaccording to claim 7, wherein four of the protruded portions arearranged at intervals of 90 degrees with the center section as thecenter.
 9. A non-slip structure, wherein said plurality of unitsaccording to claim 7 are formed on a front surface of said metal plate,said metal plate being adapted to cover the frame bodies of constructionequipment.